Get the essential information you need to understand the science, mechanisms, and real-world applications of HRV in this comprehensive yet easy to follow Foundations of Heart Rate Variability course.

Quantify Your Physical and Mental Condition

As a direct indicator of Autonomic Nervous System activity, Heart Rate Variability is now considered the most important non-invasive biomarker to track. HRV is like your individual fingerprint for stress tolerance, adaptability and resiliency.

From hospitals to sports facilities, the underlying theme is to non-invasively gain deeper, objective insight into the body’s systemic condition.

How are people actually using HRV today?

Track progress and guide treatment plans

Improve resilience and adaptability

Customize training and optimize recovery time

Personalizenutrition, sleep and exercise protocols

Provide early warning signs for changes in health, overtraining or maladaptation

Re-balance the nervous system with live biofeedback

Objectively understand motivation and willpower

Identify risk of morbidity and mortality

Yes, HRV is a deep and complex biomarker; and as with any emerging technology, if used incorrectly, it can end up doing more harm than good.

However, Heart Rate Variability can be a powerful tool in your arsenal for better decision making.

But, you’ll need to understand the foundational science and physiological mechanisms underlying various “HRV” values, and the tried and true methods for applying HRV analysis in real-world situations.

That’s why we created this course.

A Deeper Understanding In Less Time

Introducing the Foundations of Heart Rate Variability Course

The Foundations of Heart Rate Variability course covers the foundational science and practical application of Heart Rate Variability in a way that is comprehensive, yet accessible.

You’ll learn how to accurately measure HRV, identify the patterns that matter, and analyze it to recover faster, reduce stress, and objectively measure your health and fitness.

Extensive Video Content

Over 3.5 hours of video content broken into easily digestible modules and lessons.

How can I strategically use HRV to optimize training and performance while reducing stress?

Why do different software platforms produce different HRV “scores”?

The science behind HRV is incredibly complex - but it’s applications are useful to just about anyone interested in reducing stress, improving health, and optimizing performance. That’s why we go deep into the fundamentals of Heart Rate Variability in a logical progression that is accessible both to those with HRV experience and those new to the technology.

Save Time, Learn More with All the Essential HRV Knowledge in One Place

Save yourself the hundreds of hours we’ve spent reading research papers, talking to experts, and applying HRV analysis in the real world to learn as much as possible about HRV. We gathered the most up to date, thoroughly researched, highly practical information and organized it into easy-to-digest, work at your own pace lessons that tie the science and mechanisms underlying HRV to its measurement and applications in the real world - so you’ll quickly get a complete understanding of HRV and how to use it to optimize health and performance.

Understand How to Actually Use HRV Effectively

While the science of Heart Rate Variability is fascinating, it’s real benefits come from real world application. That’s why we’ve dedicated two whole modules to showing you how to accurately measure HRV, choose the analysis methods that meet your goals, and use HRV in a variety of contexts. And we’ve included knowledge checks to validate your learning, actionable checklists to help you accomplish real world goals, and reference guides to quickly refresh your knowledge as you use HRV - all to help you put your new understanding of HRV to work!

When it comes to getting the most results for your clients and your coaching business, HRV is the wave of the future. If you understand it, you know how to use it, and you're on the cutting edge of how to apply it. In my opinion, this is one of the best courses you can use to differentiate yourself and to rise above the competition.

Ben Greenfield

Ben Greenfield Fitness

Thanks for putting the course together. Many people I work with have already benefited from the knowledge I have gained from the course. Many training hours have been saved by being able to recognise the onset of stresses (mainly the onset of sickness) and thereby reducing training stress to allow the body to recover.

Dermot Radford

Endurance Cycling Coach

I thoroughly enjoyed this course, and finally found all the answers I had been wondering about all the different measurements! I am interested in HRV in relation to stress levels for health applications, and also how I can use it in my practice. This foundations course provided a great foundation for me to feel comfortable using HRV now with my patients. Thank you!!!

Kelly Busby D.O.

Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine

This course was amazing! As a health educator and corporate wellness specialist working in the Middle East, using HRV will surely put my organization way ahead of the game, and will help us to better serve our clients. Another major benefit for me was the distance learning aspect, as the course platform was so user-friendly and engaging. Thanks so much for the empowerment!

This course provides a great, broad foundation of information with an applied twist that would help anyone from general public, university students or working physiologists.

Ben Scott, MS

Performance Sport Scientist, Swim Wales, @BScott_SportSci

This is a great course for someone who might not have had a lot of formal education on HRV and provides a good education in data collection, analysis, and practical application of results. This was a worthwhile course, great job guys!

Ben Mendelson, MS

Strength & Conditioning Specialist, Milwaukee Brewers

Who this course is for

Health Practitioners

Sports Scientists

Strength & Conditioning Coaches

Personal Trainers

Rehabilitation Specialists

Health and Fitness Consultants

Psychological or Psychiatric Therapists

Recovery Therapists

Athletes

Quantified Self Enthusiasts

Health Seekers

First Responder Organizations

After completing this course, you will know:

The different states of stress, their physiological effects, and how they're linked to Heart Rate Variability.

The branches of the Autonomic Nervous System and their connection to HRV.

Biological mechanisms that influence HRV such as the Vagus Nerve function.

The various types of HRV measurements, how to accurately and consistently measure it, and what external factors can influence your measurements.

The pros and cons of different HRV monitors.

The methods of HRV analysis including Time Domain, Frequency Domain, and Nonlinear analysis.

Demographic factors that affect HRV.

The link between HRV and health, stress, disease, and illness.

The nutritional and environmental influences that impact HRV.

The strategic uses of HRV in optimizing training and physical performance, including trends to look for when customizing and optimizing training programs.

The link between HRV and emotional health as well as the uses of HRV in treating emotional and mental health conditions.

Various methods for increasing HRV.

How to incorporate HRV analysis and consulting into your business offering.

Curriculum at a Glance

We’ve broken the Foundations of Heart Rate Variability into easy to follow modules and lessons, each with optional knowledge checks and reference handouts to help you re-affirm your learning and put it into practice.

The Science of Stress

HRV and the Autonomic Nervous System

Measuring and Analyzing HRV

The Practical Applications of HRV

The Science of Stress

Stress & Homeostasis

Understanding stress and its physiological impacts is crucial for understanding the connection between Heart Rate Variability and the body. In this lesson, we’ll cover the basics of stress and explain the importance of Homeostasis - the body’s process of maintaining balance.

Allostasis

Allostasis is the adaptive process the body uses to maintain homeostasis. Allostasis and allostatic load are important concepts to understand in relation to HRV as the body’s ability to properly adapt will be reflected in a person’s absolute and relative HRV. In this lesson, we’ll elaborate on the topic of stress and Homeostasis by delving into Allostasis and providing some biological examples of these processes at work.

General & Individual Stress Response

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) is the foundation for short-term and long-term physiological effects of stress on the body and is an important concept to understand when using HRV to guide training. A person’s individual response to various stressors can affect stress and recovery patterns seen in HRV trending analysis. In this lesson, we’ll cover both GAS and individual stress response to lay a solid foundation for understanding the body’s stress and recovery states as reflected in HRV.

HRV and the Autonomic Nervous System

Introducing Heart Rate Variability

In this lesson, we’ll introduce Heart Rate Variability, explain why it exists, review its historical and present day uses, and cover the mechanisms that cause Heart Rate Variability.

The Autonomic Nervous System

The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is a division of the nervous system that controls subconscious processes in the body like digestion, breathing, and heart rate. HRV is the most accurate, noninvasive measure of the ANS. In this lesson, we’ll dive deeper into the two branches of the ANS: Parasympathetic (responsible for rest and recovery processes) and Sympathetic (responsible for flight or flight stress response).

The Vagus Nerve

The Vagus Nerve is a cranial nerve that connects the brain to the heart, lungs, intestines, and many other organs. HRV directly measures the vagus nerve input on the heart. In this lesson, we’ll explain the Vagus Nerve’s function and connection to HRV, as well as the Baroreceptor Reflex’s influence on the Vagus Nerve, Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia and how these affect HRV.

Measuring and Analyzing Heart Rate Variability

Measuring Heart Rate Variability

In this lesson, we’ll show you how to accurately and consistently measure HRV. Important topics we’ll cover include: selecting a measurement duration, deciding how frequently to measure HRV, taking measurements during rest vs. active states, choosing measuring positions, and taking group measurements. We’ll also discuss the effects of breathing patterns on HRV measurements and the different types of devices and monitors used to measure HRV.

Analyzing Heart Rate Variability Values

In this lesson, we’ll discuss the different methods used to analyze HRV measurements including Time-Domain, Frequency Domain, and Nonlinear. We’ll cover the calculations involved in each method, what the indices and values mean, and the physiological mechanisms that affect each type of value. We’ll also explain how to effectively analyze HRV trends over short-term and long-term events, the importance of contextualizing your HRV data with lifestyle factors, and the use cases for live HRV biofeedback.

The Practical Applications of HRV

HRV & Demographics

Demographic factors such as age, gender, fitness level, and others can all affect Heart Rate Variability. That’s why it’s important to analyze people’s HRV within their individual demographics to more accurately compare and analyze their HRV measurements. In this lesson, we’ll review some research detailing the effects of age, gender, and fitness level on HRV, as well as other important considerations like the effects of medications. You’ll also get a useful reference guide that breaks down average HRV metrics for each demographic.

HRV & Physical Health

A key reason HRV has become so popular is its validity and effectiveness in measuring health and longevity. In this lesson, we’ll discuss how HRV indices have been correlated with morbidity and mortality, including the leading causes of death. We’ll also cover how HRV is the best noninvasive biomarker to effectively measure health status and monitor treatment progression.

HRV & Nutrition & Environment

Nutritional and environmental factors are obviously important for optimizing overall health. In this lesson, we’ll discuss how HRV can be used to identify inflammatory responses from nutritional and environmental stressors and review some examples and studies that demonstrate this connection.

HRV & Physical Performance

One of the most common applications for HRV is training program optimization for performance athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike. That’s because HRV is the best objective measure of an individual’s fitness level and is key for understanding an athlete’s recovery levels. In this lesson, we’ll cover the relationship between different HRV indices and training stress/recovery status. We’ll discuss how to identify over-training, under-training, and functional overreaching conditions, as well as the different training factors that affect HRV and some basic guidelines for tailoring training using HRV data.

HRV & Emotional Health

Emotional and mental health is just as important as physical health to overall well-being and performance. In this lesson, we’ll review several example case studies demonstrating how HRV analysis and biofeedback training can be used to successfully identify and treat different emotional and mental conditions such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

HRV & Recovery

Rest and recovery are crucial for achieving health and performance goals. In this lesson, we’ll review the importance of recovery, explain how to identify recovery states using HRV trending, and cover different active techniques used to expedite recovery.

HRV Optimization Checklist

In this lesson, we’ll briefly summarize the different lifestyle factors that can affect HRV to help you make effective decisions when trying to optimize HRV, health, and performance.

HRV for your Business

HRV guidance can help you create an individualized approach for your clients and patients that increases participation, results, and satisfaction. Many coaches, personal trainers, consultants, health practitioners, rehabilitation specialists, and first-responder organizations are already utilizing HRV monitoring to optimize their programs - and you should too! In this lesson, we’ll discuss how integrating HRV analysis and coaching services can differentiate your business and can provide a better experience for your clients, and also offer tips on analyzing common HRV trends, utilizing HRV consultations, and how to use HRV in group training.

How This Course Could Make You Money

If you’re a personal trainer, coach, or health consultant then you know it’s important to set yourself apart from the competition.

By offering Heart Rate Variability analysis and coaching services, you’ll be able to objectively demonstrate the effectiveness of your training programs and protocols - which leads to higher client participation, improvement, and satisfaction.

And with the increase in HRV’s popularity, it could even lead to additional revenue streams as clients come to you specifically for your HRV offerings. Many coaches and health practices alike have already successfully incorporated HRV-based consultation services and expanded group offerings by implementing HRV analysis into their business.

In addition to learning the foundational science, measurement, and analysis techniques you’ll need to begin incorporating HRV into your business offerings, if you’re a NASM or NSCA certified coach or trainer, you’ll earn continuing education credits by completing the Foundations of Heart Rate Variability course!

Meet Your Instructors

Greg Elliott, M.S., CEP

About Me

Greg is a Clinical Exercise Physiologist, Kinesiologist, and Osteopath in training. He specializes in quantification of and systemization of patient improvement and has been making heavy use of Heart Rate Variability analysis with his clients for 3 years. Greg is passionate about applying technology to enhance results in the fields of exercise science, rehabilitation, as well as manual therapy, and he currently consults with hospitals, universities, clinics and professional sports organizations through his private practice: G-Tech Health & Performance. In his practice, he regularly helps clients with everything from chronic diseases and illnesses to improving the systemic condition of professional athletes.

My Degrees & Certifications

Academic degrees

Masters of Science of Exercise Science (Bloomsburg University)

Bachelors of Science of Exercise Science (Bloomsburg University)

Certifications

American College of Sports Medicine Clinical Exercise Physiologist

Precision Nutrition Level 1

Functional Movement Screen Level 2

BioForce HRV Pro Trainer

My Work Experience

Exercise Physiologist at Fit To Train Human Performance Systems

Exercise Physiologist at Copeman Healthcare Centre

Founder of G-Tech Health & Performance

My Presentation Experience

Superhuman summit 2015

MARC ACSM conference 2013

Jason Moore

Creator of HRVcourse.com and Foundations of Heart Rate Variability course

About Me

Jason is the Founder of Elite HRV, the Heart Rate Variability platform now used by Olympians, pro sports, doctors, research organizations, and over 100,000 health and performance seekers. Over the past 5 years he’s been researching and using HRV technology, and through active collaboration with the aforementioned groups, is continuously exposed to the latest scientific research and methods for making the best use of HRV and other biomarkers. He’s used this experience to help thousands of people and hundreds of organizations implement HRV into their lives and careers. Prior to founding Elite HRV, Jason specialized in large scale data analysis systems for the Oil and Gas industry, focusing on making complex data actionable. Jason has also been a health and performance coach and personal trainer, and truly enjoys teaching others how to optimize their health and performance to become their best self.

30 Day Money Back Guarantee, Lifetime Access

When you enroll in the Foundations of Heart Rate Variability today, you’ll get immediate access to all of the current course content so you can get started right away.

You’ll also have lifetime access to all future updates, as well as exclusive offers on other products and services available only to Foundations of Heart Rate Variability students.

And if you’re not completely satisfied with what you’ve learned from the course, we’ll refund 100% of your investment no questions asked when you request a refund within 30 days of your payment.

Prior to viewing the Foundations in HRV course, and with an already established background in the area, I had some reservations that its content might not be current. After viewing however, it was clear that it was, including useful applied advice for practitioners. Indeed, the course exceeded my expectations and I was surprised to pick up additional information that has helped my own practice. I continue to recommend the course to colleagues wishing to further their understanding in the area.

I am a clinical psychologist, and soon discovered the work of Professors Richard Gevirtz and Paul Lehrer, and realised that HRV had been used for a variety of clinical conditions with impressive results. I therefore started using HRV in my clinical work, and although I had studied a number of research papers, I felt I need a more thorough grounding in the underlying physiology of HRV. When I found that Jason and Greg were starting an online course, I jumped at the chance. I have found the course to provide just what I needed, a very thorough grounding in the research and applications relating to HRV. The course materials are excellent, the 20 minute presentations just right in terms of length and the amount of information they contain, and all-in-all I found the course absolutely brilliant. I think this course is equally relevant for professionals involved in the field of sports science or, like me, the clinical applications, and for anyone else who is curious about this incredibly exciting area of applied science. Highly recommended

For anyone that is interested in HRV and its applications I strongly suggest this course. It is a great starting point to deepen your understanding of both the theory and application. Jason Moore and Greg Elliott did a great job with all of the material - including the videos.

First off, I really enjoyed this coursework. I'm a triathlon/mutlisport coach that primarily works with advanced & elite athletes specializing in long course racing (half ironman, full ironman, ultra marathons). I have one professional athlete and a number of Kona qualifiers on my roster. I've been using HRV with most of my athletes for about 3-4 months and evaluating HRV trends (primarily) against training load, sleep (quantity and quality), diet, mood and non-training stressors. This coursework has provided me with the next level of knowledge to more effectively utilize HRV to optimize their overall well being and performance.

This is a wonderful overview of the fundamentals of HRV, with the right balance between theory and practice, comprehensibility and complexity. Thanks for a really great course!

Chip Robie

Financial Services Professional, Competitive Squash Player

I wondered if I would be able to comprehend the material in a manner that would allow me to articulate it back to my coach. Through taking the course I gained not only the education from the material but the confidence to have the conversation with my coach and explain it to him in detail. I had prepared note cards in advance for that conversation but found that I did not need them because I had a much better understanding of the material than expected. I was able to explain it to him, answer his questions and demonstrate HRV and share the charts and graphs from my iPhone with him successfully. I'd say my doubts were completely addressed. Thanks for the opportunity to participate in this invaluable educational experience!

As a health psychologist, the HRV course provided an excellent foundation of technical depth and practical application for my work with both clinical and performance populations. The course delivery platform was very easy to navigate and the PDF handouts were well designed and integrated a lot of user-friendly information. The final certification exam was fair and comprehensive. I'd highly recommend this course to anyone interested in incorporating HRV into their clinical or coaching work with clients.

Ken Celiano

Clinical Psychologist

Get Started with the Foundations of Heart Rate Variability Course Today

Sure, you could spend your time piecing together bits of HRV information from around the Internet and other sources.

Or, you could accelerate your understanding of Heart Rate Variability by leveraging our efforts to organize the most useful information into a complete, logical progression designed to help you start measurably optimizing health and performance.

Enrollment currently closed

$249

Some Frequently Asked Questions

I already have some knowledge of HRV, will this course still benefit me?

Absolutely!

We created the Foundations of Heart Rate Variability course to be a comprehensive, practical overview of the science and mechanisms behind HRV and how to use it to optimize health and performance.

While there are many resources out there that have bits and pieces of information about HRV, we’ve compiled all the latest research and best practices in one place - so you can reaffirm your existing HRV knowledge while filling in the gaps so you can start putting that knowledge into practice.

We’re also working on advanced courses for healthcare professionals and performance coaches to provide more detailed information about HRV’s uses and benefits in those applications.

Is this course only for people with a medical/sports science background?

No!

Foundations of Heart Rate Variability was created for anyone interested in getting a solid foundation in the science and applications of HRV.

Whether you’re a healthcare professional, performance coach, or health and fitness enthusiast, you’ll find the course content completely comprehensible, and you’ll have direct access to the instructors in case you have any further questions.

What are the pre-requisites for the Foundations of Heart Rate Variability course?

A basic math and science understanding will be helpful to complete this course.

You can also contact the course instructors and/or join group discussions from within the course portal if you need help understanding any specific topics. And don't forget to participate in the Q&A Webinars to hear the answers to your and your fellow students' questions.

Will I learn how to actually measure and analyze HRV so I can use it to optimize health and performance?

Yes!

As fascinating as the science behind HRV is, the real benefits come from putting it to use in optimizing health and performance.

As you complete Foundations of Heart Rate Variability, you’ll get enough of the background science to understand the mechanisms behind HRV, but the majority of the content is aimed at showing you how to measure and analyze HRV, then use it to improve results in a variety of contexts including performance training, diet, and emotional wellbeing.

Is this course only for people with a medical/sports science background?

No!

Foundations of Heart Rate Variability was created for anyone interested in getting a solid foundation in the science and applications of HRV.

Whether you’re a healthcare professional, performance coach, or health and fitness enthusiast, you’ll find the course content completely comprehensible, and you’ll have direct access to the instructors in case you have any further questions.

What software applications are taught in this course?

We do not teach any specific software application as part of this course. We focus on understanding the principals and application of HRV technology so you can apply this knowledge to any software application you choose.

How can this course help my business?

If you’re a health practitioner, sport scientist, trainer, or coach, you know it’s important to set yourself apart from the competition.

By offering Heart Rate Variability analysis and coaching services, you’ll be able to objectively demonstrate the effectiveness of your training programs and suggestions - which leads to higher client participation, improvement, and satisfaction.

And with the increase in HRV’s popularity, it could even lead to additional revenue streams as clients come to you specifically for your HRV offerings.

In addition to learning the foundational science, measurement, and analysis techniques you’ll need to begin incorporating HRV into your business offerings, if you’re a NASM or NSCA certified coach or trainer, you’ll earn continuing education credits by completing the Foundations of Heart Rate Variability course!

How does the money-back guarantee work?

If you’re not satisfied with the course for any reason, simply send us an email at support@hrvcourse.com within 30 days of your purchase and we’ll issue a full refund - no questions asked. However, once you have downloaded your certificate of completion with the CEUs, refunds are no longer available.

How will the course content be delivered?

Upon purchase you get immediate access to the course dashboard where the video lectures, course handouts, and reference documents can be accessed on demand so you can start learning right away and at your own pace.

Learn at your own pace with the easy to use course portal available on desktop and mobile devices and progress tracking.

How do I receive the Certificate of Completion for this course?

In order to receive your Certificate of Completion for your purchased courses, you need to pass (receive a passing grade of 80% or higher) the final test at the end of the course content. There are also optional knowledge checks at the end of each module to re-affirm your learning as you progress through the course and to prepare you for the final exam.

After passing your final exam, your Certificate of Completion is accessible from within the course dashboard and is also email to you for your convenience. HRVcourse.com has partnered with Accredible to make your certificate available in an online format that can be easily saved, downloaded, or shared.

How do I earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) by taking this course?

When you complete the Foundations of Heart Rate Variability course, you can now receive CEUs for the following approved organizations:

National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) - Earn 0.3 CEUs

National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) - Earn 1.1 CEUs

To claim your CEUs, you need to complete the course, pass the final exam, and receive your certificate of completion that has the Approved Provider Number on it. You then need to go the organization site and search the associated online CEU Approved Provider list and select the Foundations of Heart Rate Variability course to receive credit.

2017 enrollment is currently closed

The Foundations of Heart Rate Variability Course will open again later this year.

Feedback from participants has been so positive, that we will continue offering periodic short enrollment periods to keep the quality of the experience as high as possible. Since enrollment will be limited, we will be announcing first to those who have registered interest here.

Thank you! You will be the first to know when the course enrollment opens.

2017 enrollment is currently closed

The Foundations of Heart Rate Variability Course will open again later this year.

Feedback from participants has been so positive, that we will continue offering periodic short enrollment periods to keep the quality of the experience as high as possible. Since enrollment will be limited, we will be announcing first to those who have registered interest here.

Thank you! You will be one of the first to know when the course next opens for enrollment.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Email Address

Thank you! You will be one of the first to be notified when the course next opens enrollment.

2017 enrollment is currently closed

The Foundations of Heart Rate Variability Course will open again later this year.

Feedback from participants has been so positive, that we will continue offering periodic short enrollment periods to keep the quality of the experience as high as possible. Since enrollment will be limited, we will be announcing first to those who have registered interest here.

Thank you! You will be one of the first to know when the course next opens for enrollment.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Email Address

Thank you! You will be one of the first to be notified when the course next opens enrollment.